Latest From California Healthline:

When leaders in Washington discuss the future of American health care, women are not always in the room. Here, nine women share their personal stories, fears and hopes. (Anna Gorman and Jenny Gold,
8/17)

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More News From Across The State

These payments, known as cost-sharing reductions, are paid to health plans to offset the costs of providing coverage to low-income consumers. The decision, which drew criticism from some congressional conservatives, signals, for now, that the administration has decided against triggering a collapse of the health law's individual market. This step could create a window of time and opportunity for Congress to pass some fixes to stabilize the markets.

The Associated Press:
White House: Gov't To Make Health Law Payments This Month
The government will make this month’s payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law that President Donald Trump still wants to repeal and replace, a White House official said Wednesday. ... A White House spokesman said “the August payment will be made,” insisting on anonymity to discuss the decision ahead of the official announcement. The so-called “cost-sharing” subsidies total about $7 billion this year and are considered vital to guarantee stability for consumers who buy their own individual health insurance policies. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/16)

The Hill:
Trump To Make ObamaCare Payments To Insurers For August
Insurers have been asking Congress and the administration for certainty that they’ll continue to receive cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs), which compensate insurers for subsidizing the out-of-pocket costs for low-income enrollees. Instead, the administration has been making the payments on a monthly basis. (Roubein, 8/16)

Los Angeles Times:
Trump Administration, Facing Pressure, Agrees To Continue Obamacare Subsidy For Now
The decision to make this month’s payment, which was due next week, signaled that the administration has decided against immediately precipitating a collapse, potentially giving Congress time to pass a bipartisan package of fixes to some of the law’s problems. Leading Republican members of Congress have pressed the administration to keep making the payments, fearing that any move to cut them off would cause chaos in insurance markets. Trump has said voters would blame Democrats for any problems with the markets, but few Republican elected officials share that view. (Lauter, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal:
White House: Health-Insurer Payments Will Be Made In August
Governors and Democratic lawmakers have been urging President Donald Trump to continue the payments, known as cost-sharing reduction payments, because insurers have said they may pull out of the ACA’s insurance markets or raise premiums in 2018 without the funding. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report Tuesday that premiums for popular, midprice plans on the ACA exchanges would rise 20% next year without the payments. (Armour and Radnofsky, 8/17)

Politico Pro reports that the Senate parliamentarian is looking into whether Republicans can continue to debate the replacement of the federal health law using fast-track procedures set up under the 2017 budget after the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.

Politico Pro:
Parliamentarian Weighs Whether Senate GOP Can Push Fast-Track Repeal After Fiscal 2017
As President Donald Trump and conservatives push the Senate to take another stab after the August recess, the parliamentarian is considering whether the 2017 budget — which set up the rules for the expedited process of passing legislation with a simple majority — can still apply after the 2017 fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, according to Democratic sources. There is no precedent for using a budget reconciliation bill after the fiscal year ends. (Haberkorn, 8/17)

President Donald Trump is expected to issue a regulation allowing employers with religious objections to omit coverage for contraception from their workers’ insurance plans. In other Trump administration news: the Department of Health and Human Services names 14 people to its mental health panel; the cancellation of several payment reforms is complicating efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to promote value-based care; and the National Parks Service lifts a ban on selling plastic water bottles in the parks.

The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Set To Roll Back Obama-Era Contraception Rule
The Trump administration is poised to issue a rule unwinding an Obama -era requirement that employee health benefits include contraception, which will spark a fresh round of litigation over an issue that has been before courts for six years. Federal health officials are expected to finalize a regulation that would allow employers with religious or moral objections to birth control to omit coverage for contraception from their workers’ plans, according to two people familiar with its contents. The regulation closely mirrors an earlier, leaked draft, they said. (Hackman and Radnofsky, 8/16)

Stat:
HHS Picks Members From The Public For New Mental Health Commission
The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday appointed 14 people from outside government to join a new commission tasked with addressing serious mental illness throughout the United States. The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee, which consists of 10 leaders or designees from federal departments and 14 outside experts, was created via the 21st Century Cures Act, which then-President Barack Obama signed into law in December. (Facher, 8/16)

Modern Healthcare:
Cancellation Of Bundled Payment Models Reflects White House's Stance On Value Based Care
The Trump administration's moves to cancel two mandatory bundled payment models and scale back on another means the CMS has to work hard to push providers into value-based care, experts say. On Tuesday, the CMS cut the number of locations mandated to participate in the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement, or CJR, model from 67 to 34. It also canceled Episode Payment Models and the Cardiac Rehabilitation incentive payment models that were supposed to begin on Jan. 1, 2018. (Dickson, 8/16)

San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump Administration Kills Push To Ban Bottled Water In National Parks
The National Park Service announced Wednesday that, effective immediately, it will no longer allow parks to ban the sale of plastic water bottles, which have long been criticized for littering lakes and forests. Since 2011, as part of the Green Parks Plan adopted under former President Barack Obama, the Park Service has encouraged the use of tap water and refillable bottles on federal lands, while allowing parks the option to prohibit the sale of disposable water bottles in shops, hotels and vending machines. (Alexander, 8/16)

KPCC finds that as the drug problem grows, the county's wealthier communities are seeing the brunt of the epidemic. In other news, the country's largest pharmacy benefit manager is seeking to limit access to opioids and public health advocates warn about overdoses while driving.

KPCC:
Infographic: Orange County's Wealthiest Cities Have Biggest Opioid Problem
Opioid abuse and overdoses have caused emergency room visits in Orange County to more than double over the last decade, according to a recent report from the county health care agency. The cities with the highest rates of opioid-related emergency room visits are in generally wealthy south Orange County and along the coast, with Dana Point at the top of the list. (Replogle, 8/16)

The Associated Press:
Express Scripts To Limit Opioids; Doctors Concerned
The nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager will soon limit the number and strength of opioid drugs prescribed to first-time users as part of a wide-ranging effort to curb an epidemic affecting millions of Americans. But the new program from Express Scripts is drawing criticism from the American Medical Association, the largest association of physicians and medical students in the U.S., which believes treatment plans should be left to doctors and their patients. (Salter, 8/17)

The Associated Press:
Overdoses On The Road: Drugged Driving Rises As A Menace
Car crashes caused by overdosing drivers are becoming so commonplace, authorities say, that some rescue crews immediately administer the antidote, naloxone, to any unresponsive driver they find at an accident scene. People who use heroin and related drugs are sometimes so eager to get high, or so sick from withdrawal, that they’ll shoot up in the car as soon as they get their hands on more, police say. Often they’re back on the road before the overdose takes hold, and they lose consciousness, a recipe for traffic accidents. (Stacy and Welsh-Huggins, 8/17)

And on the issue of excess drinking --

NPR:
With Heavy Drinking On The Rise, How Much Is Too Much?
If one glass of wine takes the edge off, why not drink a few more? This thinking may help explain the findings of a new study that points to an increase in drinking among adults in the U.S., especially women. "We found that both alcohol use and high-risk drinking, which is sometimes called binge-drinking, increased over time," says Deborah Hasin, a professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Medical Center and an author of the study. (Aubrey, 8/16)

Lifecare Solutions, which has locations in Thousand Palms, mailed notices to customers to inform them of the change. In other news from around the state, the blood supply drops to a critical level. And Chula Vista reverses its chocolate milk policy.

KESQ:
Medical Supply Company Closing All California Locations
A Coachella Valley woman is speaking up about the planned closure of a medical supply company, Lifecare Solutions, in California after she said she received a notice in the mail, giving her only weeks to make other accommodations for her medical equipment. (Widner, 8/16)

The report, however, also finds that the average age of the homeless people who died rose to 62 in 2016, well above other areas. Meanwhile, two fires in the San Diego area are classified as hoarding situations.

The Mercury News:
Santa Clara County Report Shows Surge In Homeless Deaths
The number of homeless deaths in Santa Clara County increased 164 percent from 2011 to 2016 — with a sharp spike in the last year — some of which can be attributed to an increasingly aging population, according to a new report. ...While the full report is expected to be available in coming days, the summary released Wednesday showed that the average age of the deceased homeless has been over 50 through the years, and jumped to 62 in 2016. (Kurhi, 8/16)

KPBS Public Media:
Recent House Fires Focus Attention On Hoarding Disorder
Two house fires in the last month were declared by fire officials as hoarding situations. ... Clinical psychologist Michelle Carcel said the three characteristics in the profile of person who is a hoarder are the acquisition of items, a difficulty getting rid of or discarding items and inability to organize items. (Ruth and Cavanaugh, 8/16)

One emergency room doctor's tale sparks debate in the medical community. Meanwhile, other medical personnel news from around California are reported today.

Sacramento Bee:
Racism In ER: Patients Refuse Doctor's Treatment Because Of Her Race
A doctor in Oregon has touched a nerve with a series of tweets revealing that some “white nationalists” have refused treatment from her because of her race. Esther Choo, an emergency physician and associate professor at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, according to Refinery 29, described on Sunday how she treats those patients with “compassion” because “the best thing I can do is make sure their hate finds no purchase here.” (Gutierrez, 8/16)

Ventura County Star:
Charges Dropped Against Thousand Oaks Doctor's Spouse In Patient Death
Charges were dropped Wednesday against a Thousand Oaks doctor's husband who'd been accused of practicing medicine without a license and administering drugs that allegedly led to a patient's death. The case against Paul McQuillan stemmed from the Aug. 2, 2014, death of Polly Duntley, which occurred two days after the defendant gave her a morphine injection. Duntley, 88, of Camarillo, allegedly needed care for leg pain. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright granted a motion made by prosecutors about 9 a.m. Wednesday to dismiss both felony offenses, according to a news release issued by McQuillan's attorney, Philip Dunn. (Diskin, 8/16)

Ventura County Star:
Clinicas Agency Gets National Honor For Care
The Clinicas del Camino Real health agency has received national recognition through a program that rewards high-quality care at centers for vulnerable and underserved patients. Clinicas was one of 12 health centers in the state and 46 in the country named as a “National Quality Leader,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this week.“ That’s pretty darned good,” Christina Velasco, chief financial officer and acting CEO of Clinicas, said Tuesday. (Wilson, 8/16)

Los Angeles Times:
L.A. City Council Approves New Cannabis Department Head
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday backed Mayor Eric Garcetti’s picks to oversee City Hall’s new Department of Cannabis Regulation, a vote that comes as officials prepare for legalization of recreational marijuana in California. Cat Packer, the former California coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance, will run the new city division. A five-member Cannabis Commission will provide input on cannabis rules. (Smith, 8/16)

The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Salk Accidentally Kills A Monkey During An Experiment
An animal rights group has asked federal regulators to fine the Salk Institute in La Jolla for accidentally killing a marmoset while it was performing neurological research on the monkey. The Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) this week accused the Salk of negligence in a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act. The incident occurred on Feb. 13, during a surgical procedure on the marmoset’s brain. The monkey’s temperature spiked to more than 107 degrees while the animal was under general anesthesia, the Salk told the National Institutes of Health in a compliance letter. (Robbins, 8/16)

Security experts account for the jump by saying that hacking has gotten easier and more organizations are now reporting incidents. In other health industry news, UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley steps down and the insurer's current president David Wichmann will take over the position.

Modern Healthcare:
Healthcare Data Breaches Caused By Hacks Are On The Rise
Data breaches caused by hacking, so-called IT incidents and unauthorized access are on the rise, with 162% more incidents at healthcare organizations so far in 2017 as there were in all of 2016, according to data from HHS' Office for Civil Rights. Security experts said that's because hacking has gotten easier and organizations are now reporting incidents they previously might have kept quiet about. (Arndt, 8/16)

The Associated Press:
UnitedHealth CEO To Step Down After Run Of More Than Decade
UnitedHealth Group has picked company President David Wichmann to replace CEO Stephen Hemsley in a long-planned transition that Wall Street greeted with polite applause.The nation’s largest health insurer says Wichmann, 54, will take over Sept. 1, and Hemsley will become executive chairman of the company’s board. Current Chairman Richard Burke will shift to lead independent director. (Murphy, 8/17)

Postpartum nurses often fail to warn mothers about potentially life-threatening complications following childbirth due to their own lack of information. In other maternal health care news: the breast-feeding gap; doulas; and microbes that help reduce sepsis risk in newborns.

NPR and ProPublica:
Many Nurses Lack Knowledge Of Health Risks To Mothers After Childbirth
In recent months, mothers who nearly died in the hours and days after giving birth have repeatedly told ProPublica and NPR that their doctors and nurses were often slow to recognize the warning signs that their bodies weren't healing properly. A study published Tuesday in MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing substantiates some of those concerns. Researchers surveyed 372 postpartum nurses nationwide and found that many of them were ill-informed about the dangers mothers face after giving birth. (Martin and Montagne, 8/17)

Stateline:
Cities Enlist ‘Doulas’ To Reduce Infant Mortality
African-American women have a long history with doulas, particularly during the Jim Crow era when hospitals denied access to pregnant black women, forcing many to deliver their children at home, said Andrea Williams-Salaam, a doula trainer in the Baltimore program. But as legal racial barriers vanished and the medical profession strongly promoted hospital deliveries as the safest option, fewer women practiced as doulas. A few continued to work in Baltimore, she said, but when the city decided to start training doulas, it followed the example of New York, which started its doula program in 2010. So far New York has trained 68 doulas who have attended 580 births. (Ollove, 8/17)

The New York Times:
Working To Close The Breast-Feeding Gap
“When your mother hasn’t breast-fed, it’s hard to get that support to breast-feed your own child,” Dr. McKinney said. “This is where health care providers have the opportunity to step in.” ... She was the lead author of a National Institutes of Health community study published last summer in Pediatrics, which found that the newborns of African-American women were nine times more likely than the babies of white mothers to be given formula in hospitals – a factor the researchers considered a significant contributor to the entrenched disparity in breast-feeding rates between black, white and Hispanic mothers. (Miller, 8/17)

NPR:
Sepsis Risk For Newborns Reduced By Probiotic Bacteria
Feeding babies the microbes dramatically reduces the risk newborns will develop sepsis, scientists report Wednesday in the journal Nature. Sepsis is a top killer of newborns worldwide. Each year more than 600,000 babies die of the blood infections, which can strike very quickly. (Doucleff, 8/16)